Butler made his case for being a lottery pick with a 26-point second-half explosion that nearly carried his dogged Huskies past Maryland and into the Final Four.

“He took the game over and was the best player on the floor,” Jim Calhoun said after the Terrapins’ breathtaking 90-82 victory at the Carrier Dome. “And if Lonny Baxter and Juan Dixon were on the floor, he must be pretty special, because they’re great players. He dominated the second half. Clearly it was one of the great performances I’ve seen.”

Butler sat the last 5:15 of the first half after committing his second foul. He had only six points, but his team, down 44-37 at the half, hung tough. Butler came out firing after intermission.

He drained two treys in the first 2:15 and scored 17 points over the first 9:38. “My team was in a situation that they needed me,” Butler said. “I had to come in and lead that team. I tried my best to do it.”

The Terps resorted to fouling Butler and hoping he would miss from the line. Butler sank 11 of 14 free throws in the second half.

“He’s a great player; he basically carried that team in the second half,” Dixon said.

Williams switched to a zone down the stretch and Butler was held without a field goal from the 5:51 mark until his meaningless dunk with nine seconds left.

Butler, a 6-7, 230-pound father of two, was asked what factors would be involved in him possibly leaving.

“First, money,” Butler said. “Next year if I come back, how far can we go? Third, my family situation. Would I be able to help them out right away? I’m gonna sit back for a few weeks and talk to Coach Calhoun.”

Butler wanted to leave the same kind of legacy at UConn that Ray Allen and Rip Hamilton had.

“If he has a chance to be what Ray and Rip are,” Calhoun said, “how do you stop him from going?”